BEAUTIFUL
by starcompass
Summary: The truth behind Una and Walter, my version. I'm an incurable romantic. Please read the notes at the start of the story. IMPORTANT :)!!


BEAUTIFUL  
by aircompass  
  
Okay, I wrote this story because I felt the need to expound on  
Una and Walter. I didn't think Walter was stupid or oblivious  
enough not to know how she felt about him. So, here's a little  
ditty I wrote, to explain things the way I think they would   
have been.  
PLEASE R+R!!! I hope you like it, tell me what you think, I LOVE  
getting those. Even if you hated it, TELL ME!   
If you have any questions or something, just leave your e-mail  
on the review, I WILL TRY to mail you back :). Aight, sweeties? :)   
This goes for ALL of my fics.  
  
DISCLAIMER: All Hail the great L.M. Montgomery. :) I don't own   
anything, I just write stories :)  
  
  
He had beautiful hands. They were hands created purely for the transmission   
of magic, beauty and the goodness of life. It often seemed to her that he  
was not meant to live very long in this world. That he was an angel sent on  
a brief mission, not expecting to find what he did, and stayed for as long  
as he could.  
Una thought of him often, still in the bittersweet knowledge of what she  
could not understand. She had loved Walter sincerely most of her life, in   
every way, every type of love she could possibly have. She knew that Walter  
loved her, but the love between them was...not for this earth.   
She remembered a time when she had moments with him alone. No one  
had or would ever know the secret they both kept buried. No one had guessed  
and both liked to keep it that way. Una had always felt that her bittersweet  
love was sacrosanct, and telling anybody would destroy its beautiful   
simplicity.  
  
She had run down from the manse, needing to release her soul from its   
chains. Una, with sixteen years of living behind her, found herself tired of   
her own existence. Sometimes, she wished she could run away for awhile and  
leave it all at home. Rainbow Valley often allowed her this chance to leave  
her body for the briefest of instances and truly breathe the world.  
At home, she felt as if she was slowly being suffocated out of her sanity.  
Father and Mother had gone on a vacation to Winnipeg, they wouldn't be  
back for a week more. Faith and the others were getting to be a bit much for   
Una's patient nature. They tended to be a little insensitive, though they  
never really meant to be.  
It was almost destructive to Una's weak self-esteem, she had always felt so  
small and insignificant when surrounded by her siblings and the Blythes.   
They had always had such overpowering presences, they never meant to make   
her feel bad, it just happened. She sighed and gripped her legs protectively  
to her chest. Una was so tired of feeling this way.  
A warm and gentle hand suddenly caressed her head. She looked up in surprise.  
"What are you doing here?" Walter Blythe gently reproached her. "It's freezing  
and you don't have a coat..."  
"Walter..." Una said softly. A sad and fleeting half-smile tugged at her lips.   
Except Walter. Walter was always good and sweet and understanding and  
completely humble. "I didn't expect anyone to be here." He stroked her   
hair again and then sat down beside her. He held out his coat to her and   
she smiled gratefully.  
"What about you? Aren't you going to be cold?" she said.  
"Nah, I'm okay. Got my thermal everything on, a sweater, a flannel and a scarf."  
"Thank you, Walter." Her voice wavered a little, giving away her emotional state.  
Walter teasingly nudged her.  
"All right, Una. Enough niceties." Una looked up, startled. Walter laughed softly.  
"You look like a deer caught in headlights." He brushed some hair off her face.  
"I know something's wrong. Want to talk about it?"  
"I want to talk about it, Walter, but I don't know how. It's too complicated.   
Even I don't understand it." Una's chin trembled and she buried her face at her  
knees. Walter patted her back reassuringly.  
"Home life getting to you?" He asked softly. Una peeked out at the side to look  
at him.   
"Walter, you're really very good at this." she said, smiling at him. He leaned  
down and faced her, a grin on his lips.  
"So I've been told. Now stop changing the subject."   
"I don't know Walter. I'm just so tired of being alive." She paused in hesitation  
then turned her face towards him again. "You ever get that feeling? Like you  
can barely breathe in your own skin anymore? Because, it's almost as if I'm  
being suffocated at home. I'm so sick of feeling smaller than everybody else."  
She stated the fact quietly, as if she was afraid of telling the truth. Walter  
felt his heart shrink.   
"I didn't know you felt like that." He whispered, almost shamefully.  
"Yeah? Well, no one's ever heard it from me." She spat out bitterly, crying   
salty tears. "Everyone assumes it's okay. Oh, don't worry about Una, she's  
used to this sort of thing...Oh, that's okay, Una can deal with it. But it's not  
fair, Walter."   
Without thinking, Walter took her in his arms, giving her comfort in the  
way he knew how. His warmth surrounded her and at that moment Una  
was afforded all the comfort she had ever wanted. He gave her a quick   
squeeze.  
"I'm sorry I couldn't help you sooner." He sighed resignedly. She smiled,   
and left his hug to face him.  
"It's alright, Walter. How could you have known? I'm just under the stress  
of keeping this much pressure inside of me, and I just had to let it out  
somewhere." Walter placed his hand on her arm.   
"You're special, Una." He murmured, squeezing the arm he held gently,  
reassuringly, as if the squeeze was meant for her to realize that he meant  
his words. "You are strong, but no matter how strong we are, we all need  
other people sometimes." Una nodded. "I hope that next time you feel  
horrid...you know that I'll be right here." He chucked her chin.   
"Understand that?"   
Una smiled through her tears and nodded.   
"Good."  
  
Walter had always seemed to have time to let her in and listen to what she  
had to say. Una had always found it difficult to actually speak her thoughts  
except to her stepmother Rosemary, and Walter's mother Anne. Faith was  
often preoccupied with her thoughts, among other things. And somehow  
Faith and the others never seemed to be able to understand her the way  
Walter did. Carl was the one closest to her, but he was not always what  
she needed. Most times she needed Walter.  
There was something about him. His eyes were always understanding, his  
arms always warm. Walter had about him a magic that he so often lent  
over into her life, and made everything all better. Even when he himself   
was hurting, his eyes shone with kindness.   
Una could only remember one time when those eyes had changed.  
  
Often after that night when Una had finally allowed herself to let go of   
how badly she was feeling, she and Walter would go up to Rainbow Valley  
and talked of little things. That night, things were tense. They said nothing,  
but sat by the cheerful brook. It was ironic that the brook seemed so bubbly  
at a time when neither of them knew what to do, feel or believe.  
He was leaving for the war in days. Una felt a heavy burden in her heart. He   
was leaving her, and she didn't know when he would come back. Somehow,  
she had a sinking, foreboding darkness in her mind that caused her to   
trust in these moments.  
Then Walter broke the forbidding silence.  
"I really saw him you know? All those years ago..." Una trembled at his tone.  
"Saw who?"  
"Do you remember the Piper?" He asked her hesitantly. She nodded slightly.  
"I saw him, and he's come." Walter whispered, his voice almost breaking with  
tears he held back. "And I must go, Una. You and I both know that. He is  
calling me, and I MUST answer. No matter how scared I am!" His cold hands  
trembled and Una clasped them in her own warm ones. She said nothing,  
only allowed her warmth to speak to him. He gazed at her in rapture and  
gratefulness, but still worn around the edges.  
"I know." Una said softly.   
"I don't want to go, Una, but I know that if I don't, I'll spend the rest of my  
life regretting my decisions and creating illusions of what I COULD have  
done." He said it brokenly, as if he had lost all sight to the truth.  
"That's not it." Una replied firmly. Walter looked up. "I know that isn't it.  
You're afraid of having to face what you dread. You love beauty, and life  
and peace. You fear war because it represents everything you hate,   
everything you distrust." She stroked his hair. "It's alright Walter.   
Everything beautiful you have ever had, and ever will have is right here."  
And she laid her palm on his heart. She felt the tears course down her  
cheeks. How much she loved him. Her eyes fairly throbbed with it.   
Walter smiled at her sadly.  
"I love you too, Una." He whispered. Her cheeks flushed, her gaze  
faltered and the tears ran down faster. "Do you know that?" She nodded  
slowly. "Good." He paused, hesitating to speak his next words. "Ma ---  
may I kiss you?" The gentle words made Una raise her eyes to his, her  
cheeks pink, her eyes aglow with both sorrow and joy. He touched her chin.  
"You'll be right here."He said, touching the hand she had left on his heart,  
and bestowed upon her a clumsy, nose-bumping tender kiss. Once  
apart, he wiped away the tears that fell from the beautiful eyes she loved.  
"I..." she began. "I don't want to lose you, Walter." Somehow, they both  
felt the dark cloud crossing over Walter's path. Instinctively, Walter said  
nothing, and hugged her to him. She remained there as long as she could.  
  
She had told no one but Mrs. Blythe.   
The day Walter left, she shook his hand quietly, knowing that it would be  
the last time she felt the warmth in those beautiful hands. His eyes spoke  
volumes to her as he kissed her cheek, and from then on, Una's world  
had a trace of his magic.   
She hadn't said good-bye. He understood. He told no one of that night,  
simply because Walter knew Una would have wanted to keep it for herself  
and he wanted her to have the choice. She realized that if anyone else had  
known, they would have misunderstood her need to sort things out by  
herself. The grief of this, the love she shared with no one else, remained  
her strength. She drew her faith from Walter, and felt his magic flow  
through her world to remind her.  
He was not meant long for this earth. In that knowledge, Una would  
look up and smile at the heavens.  
She knew he was where he belonged.  
  
THE END 


End file.
